Voter Identification Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
Cat Smith
Main Page: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)Department Debates - View all Cat Smith's debates with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
(1 year, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Lee Rowley
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There has been voter ID in Northern Ireland for 20 years, and it has run successfully. There is absolutely no reason why that will not be the case in the United Kingdom as a whole.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
I agree with the Minister that the integrity of our democracy is incredibly important, but I suggest that the best way to strengthen security at the ballot box is to increase turnout, which would reduce voter fraud.
Two million people do not hold valid ID, and will not hold it in May. I remind the Minister that access to photo ID is a luxury and, in a cost of living crisis, the reality is that many of our constituents cannot afford the luxury of paying £82 for a passport or around £40 for a driving licence. They are being priced out of the ballot box. I urge him to look again at the list. After the May elections, will he make a statement to the House outlining what actually happened and how many people were turned away?
Lee Rowley
One of our reasons for offering a free voter authority certificate, which 21,000 people have already taken up, is to address precisely that question.